The Original Solo Directors Were Fired For Daring To Take Risks

May 23, 2018

Jon

Over the last year, the story of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s departure from Solo: A Star Wars Story has gone through many incarnations. At first we heard they quit over “creative differences,” but now most seem to agree that they were fired for either (a) losing control of the movie or (b) having an approach that clashed with the vision of producer Kathleen Kennedy and others at Lucasfilm. In a new Variety report, an unnamed source suggested that the latter is probably true and shed some light on Lord/Miller’s unusual approach to the film.

“In their minds, Phil and Chris were hired to make a movie that was unexpected and would take a risk, not something that would just service the fans,” the source said. “They wanted it to be fresh, new, emotional, surprising, and unique. These guys looked at Han as a maverick, so they wanted to make a movie about a maverick. But at every turn, when they went to take a risk, it was met with a no.”

As for the transition to the more risk-averse Ron Howard, actress Emilia Clarke claims he quickly got the movie back on track. “This is a movie that has an enormous amount of pressure on its shoulders,” she said. “Therefore, everybody making it feels some of that pressure. So when Ron came on… for me, it felt amazing to be able to have a second set of eyes come in at this point in making the movie. How often do you get that chance to go back and try different things?”

Solo: A Star Wars Story arrives in theatres on Friday. Check out the trailer below.